PERSONAL HEALTH  
O'Shaughnessy's / By Fred Gardner
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Smoking Marijuana Does Not Cause Lung Cancer

New research shows here seems to be something in pot that actually undermines cancer, instead of causing it. -- and the media are doing their best to ignore it.
August 28, 2009  |  
 
 
 
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Editor's Note: There is a groundswell of attention in the news to marijuana's role in causing and preventing various types of cancers. Last week, AlterNet published an article from the Marijuana Policy Project about a new study finding that pot smokers have a lower risk of head and neck cancers than people who don’t smoke pot. Earlier this year, the corporate media pounced on a study suggesting that men who had been using marijuana at least once per week and who had started smoking pot prior to age 18 had an elevated risk of testicular cancer known as nonseminoma, which makes up fewer than half of one percent of all cancer cases among men.

Head, neck and testicular cancers are of course quite serious ailments to deal with, but what about cancer of the most obvious organ at risk with pot smoking, the lungs? Where's the science on that? The article below by Fred Gardner, editor of the medical marijuana research quarterly journal O'Shaughnessy's, shares the results of a major medical study the media completely ignored, and his conclusions are quite blunt on the matter: Smoking pot doesn't cause lung cancer. In fact, the study found that cigarette smokers who also smoked marijuana were at a lower risk of contracting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

***

Smoking Marijuana Does Not Cause Lung Cancer

by Fred Gardner

One in three Americans will be afflicted with cancer, we are told by the government (as if it’s our immutable fate and somehow acceptable). Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. and lung cancer the leading killer among cancers.

You’d think it would have been very big news in June 2005 when UCLA medical school professor Donald Tashkin reported that components of marijuana smoke -- although they damage cells in respiratory tissue -- somehow prevent them from becoming malignant. In other words, something in marijuana exerts an anti-cancer effect!

Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the components in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin et al. who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab’s finding that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin’s data showing that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze, and produce sputum.

Tashkin reviewed his findings in April 2008, at a conference organized by “Patients Out of Time,” a reform group devoted to educating doctors and the public (as opposed to lobbying politicians). Some 30 MDs and nurses got continuing medical education credits for attending the event, which was held at Asilomar, on the Monterey Peninsula.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which supported Tashkin’s marijuana-related research over the decades, readily gave him a grant in 2002 to conduct a large, population-based, case-controlled study that would prove definitively that heavy, long-term marijuana use increases the risk of lung and upper-airways cancers.

What Tashkin and his colleagues found, however, disproved their hypothesis. (Tashkin is to marijuana as a cause of lung cancer what Hans Blix was to Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction -- an honest investigator who set out to find something, concluded that it wasn’t there, and reported his results.)

Tashkin’s team interviewed 1,212 cancer patients from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program, matched for age, gender, and neighborhood with 1,040 cancer-free controls. Marijuana use was measured in “joint years” (number of years smoked times number of joints per day).

It turned out that increased marijuana use did not result in higher rates of lung and pharyngeal cancer, whereas tobacco smokers were at greater risk the more they smoked. Tobacco smokers who also smoked marijuana were at slightly lower risk of getting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

These findings were not deemed worthy of publication in “NIDA Notes.” Tashkin reported them at the 2005 meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. They were published in the October 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

Without a press release from NIDA calling attention to its significance, the assignment editors of America had no idea that “Marijuana Use and the Risk of Lung and Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers: Results of a Population-Based Case-Control Study” by Mia Hashibe1, Hal Morgenstern, Yan Cui, Donald P. Tashkin, Zuo-Feng Zhang, Wendy Cozen, Thomas M. Mack and Sander Greenland was a blockbuster story.


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Fred Gardner is the editor of O'Shaughnessy's, a quarterly journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group.
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Smile If You Love Marijuana
[Report this comment]
Posted by: RevolutionNet on Aug 28, 2009 1:07 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

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» No, DO glamorize it. Posted by: Tweck9
» RE: No, DO glamorize it. Posted by: CatDad
» RE: No, DO glamorize it. Posted by: winchelenator

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Hemp and Marijuana
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Carts on Aug 28, 2009 1:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks to the chemical and oil industries, Harry Anslinger and Dupont, the atmosphere is now poison.

If we had been free to use weed and hemp, the world might be a lot better than now.

Thanks to oil for killing earth

Now I am going out for a joint

Ahhhh weeeeeed!

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» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: titusoye
» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: HoboHomo
» It's the 2Wackgo, stupid Posted by: tokerdesigner
» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: lesfrad

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Deadly Violence on Chicagoland Streets
[Report this comment]
Posted by: titusoye on Aug 28, 2009 1:33 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When will an AlterNet analyst do some serious investigation on the deadly violence on Chicagoland Streets? Remembering that the 'street' only knows the price of "things" but the value of "nothing," whose responsibility will it become to educate the 13 year old on the amount of pot safe for him or her to use. One thing I know is that the number of the 13 years old reading AlterNet analyses on pot and other related subjects is zero. By how many ways or for how much supposedly "gains" (is there really anything to gain?) must we continue to endanger the lives of the gullible teenager? When did pot become the water of life? Why is AlterNet devoting so much space to the subject? I tried to be a liberal but I don't know why pot should become the opium of the liberals. I am just asking questions!

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» RE: You don't think, so... Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» There is no "too much" pot Posted by: Tweck9
» SMOKE A JOINT Posted by: americansheep

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Amazing1
[Report this comment]
Posted by: cy31b on Aug 28, 2009 1:34 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Smokers of tobacco or weed or anything will seek out ANY excuse to continue their habits, no matter how it affects their bodies. Simple logic in reading this article makes it clear that emphysema and bronchitis are often the result of smoking all products, and that cancer of the prostate, testes and neck are possible. Any substance containing smoke is not good for you. Fresh air is good , and it's free. It's that simple.

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» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: heartcore
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: Mrs. Jefferson
» RE: To Mrs. Jefferson Posted by: musclecarfreak
» not really so "Amazing1" Posted by: permanentilt
» RE: I'd like to know... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: Karlh
» RE: Vaporizers 101 Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Vaporizers 101 Posted by: Karlh
» Why?!? Posted by: WhuThe?!?
» RE: Why?!? Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Why?!? Posted by: nickrhoward
» go fuck yerself KARL! Posted by: foreverhope
» Talk therapy has limits Posted by: Grandma Crabby
» EXPLAIN VAPORIZERS to us Oh Snide One... Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: mainspark
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: xmvince
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: lesfrad

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Medicinal Though It May Be...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: billslm on Aug 28, 2009 1:48 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What I see is that if marijuana were shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to cure cancer, cook your bacon and eggs to perfection, and shine your shoes as it did so, the powers that be, would still find a way to prevent its' decriminalization. The puritanical element cannot tolerate the notion of a populace which approves of people getting high and enjoying themselves. After all, finally, they must have reason to arrest some people and marijuana is a good reason. It's a power and control thing.

Then there is job preservation of the DEA. How could we have a DEA without kicking people's doors in at 3 AM? Think of all the judges who have sent people up for 20 years because they were found to be in possession of a single ounce. Why, those judges might be thought to be corrupt. Tsk,tsk, we can't have that.

You saw how Obama reacted to the audience of ordinary citizens who asked him to legalize MJ. He wouldn't go near it. And he won't go near it. Marijuana may be physically beneficial, but it's political poison.

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» The powers that be have changed! Posted by: foreverhope
» RE: The powers that be have changed! Posted by: pelican beak
» RE: Medicinal Though It May Be... Posted by: richholland
» RE: Legalize! Posted by: Sister_Lauren

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Thank you God
[Report this comment]
Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 28, 2009 2:37 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And FRED! What a GRAND IRISH name you have dear one!

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» RE: Thank you God Posted by: Mrs. Jefferson
» Aren't you the little witch Posted by: xmvince

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Pot Shots
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Posted by: Tom Degan on Aug 28, 2009 5:05 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How many people have I known personally who have died of lung cancer due to nicotine?

At least one hundred.

How many people have I known personally who have died of cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism?

At least one hundred.

How many people have I known personally who have died from too much grass?

[Long, awkward pause]

Let me get back to you....

[Longer, more awkward pause]

Well whaddaya know! It hasn't happened in all recorded human history!

I need a drink

Rady Ananda on the End of Camelot

Tom Degan, Goshen, NY

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» RE: Pot Shots Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Pot Shots Posted by: Rasplanet
» RE: Pot Shots Posted by: lesfrad

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who gives a damn
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Talleyrand on Aug 28, 2009 5:10 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sorry, I don't care much either way. I am also so tired of everybody whooping up drugs all the time and I am also tired of having to deal with people who are half asleep all the time. Really. It's nervewracking. I, personally, do not drink alcohol, I do not take drugs. I don't think that smoking weed makes you a terrific poet, or a great arteest, an interesting revolutionary thinker, or anything other than a boring, self-centered, bland individual.... I am just young enough to have experienced all those hippies trying to be politically engaged and hardly able to get out of bed in the morning. Wow, what a great success that was!

Weed, like religion and alcohol, has become the opium of the people.

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» RE: who gives a damn Posted by: Mrs. Jefferson
» RE: Weezy Jefferson hasn't a clue. Posted by: sasquuatch55
» people with cancer probably do! Posted by: permanentilt
» RE: a return to the moral high ground Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: He's tired of freedom Posted by: kettleblack
» RE: who gives a damn Posted by: blogfrog
» You need to get out more Posted by: WhuThe?!?
» RE: what other subject... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: what other subject... Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: what other subject... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: who gives a damn Posted by: lesfrad

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bbholidaypants
[Report this comment]
Posted by: blogfrog on Aug 28, 2009 6:28 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The results of the study are compelling and potheads should take comfort in knowing they are probably going to keel over someday from something other than lung cancer.

Medical users of cannibis can breathe a sigh of relief.

But here's the rub...using pot like using alcohol has but one deliverable...to render the user stupid. Maybe a little maybe a lot depending on intake but the fact remains you ingest something that precludes you from intelligence driven interaction with your environment. I made a career out of being stupid in college and a bit beyond graduation. I made an even longer career on the alcohol side of the equation.

I've dropped both now from my life resume and wow...it's pretty cool to drive the bus with the carbs blown out and the injectors not sticking and the engine purring.

Still make mistakes but now they are mine and I can intelligently assess where things go wrong and fix it rather quickly.

We americans have been sold a bill of substance abuse we foist upon ourselves as cutting loose or being free or the rebel. Our popular culture romanticizes substance abuse to the point that the very act of "living" simply cannot occur "normally" without it. Huh?

Next time you get stupid have a designated videographer (and driver) capture a day or evening starting with you speaking to the camera for five minutes on anything...before you've ingested anything. Then have your videographer get 5 more minutes at the end of your day ...the last thing before calling it a night or morning.

Try it

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» RE: bbholidaypants Posted by: sevengen
» AREN'T YOU JUST SO SPECIAL?? Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» You're very confused Posted by: xmvince
» RE: Inate stupidity Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: bbholidaypants Posted by: lesfrad

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marijuana would kill me though
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maisnon55 on Aug 28, 2009 6:34 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've got 26 years of recovery from drugs and alcohol....I'd be dead, worse yet, back in my addiction if I touched the stuff...I won't be using it for pain, it would bring on pain of a whole different kind.

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» having said that Posted by: maisnon55
» RE: big improvement Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» so what's your point? Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» RE: marijuana would kill me though Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN

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todd432
[Report this comment]
Posted by: todd432 on Aug 28, 2009 6:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Media is worse than the Government. When all is said and done and Pot becomes Legal I will never watch ANY cable news shows again and I would suggest others to do so as well. At least you can get the truth on the internet.

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The comments here really miss the point
[Report this comment]
Posted by: permanentilt on Aug 28, 2009 6:50 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think most of the comments on this thread are preoccupied by this article as it relates to recreational smoking of marijuana, not the fact that this study shows potential anti-cancer properties of cannabanoids.

Other recently published studies have shown marijuana smokers have reduced rates of head and neck cancers and another one shows marijuana even reduces risk of prostate cancer.

Most people, upon hearing this say, "Yeah right, if marijuana had anti-cancer properties science would have found it by now." But the truth is, no it wouldn't. (well actually, yes it would and has, but it is impossible to get the FDA i.e. the government to recognize this)

The reason is that marijuana is a schedule 1 drug, meaning that it has no medicinal properties. This means that all proposed research on marijuana must be cleared by the FDA, but even before being cleared by the FDA it must be cleared by the DEA. The DEA is HIGHLY resistant to approving any studies on marijuana, for obvious reasons since that is their job. The DEA notoriously cherrypicks research on marijuana which is proposed by anti-marijuana scientists. This article mentions that, this study was done by a group expecting to find cancerous properties of marijuana smoke, but were surprised to find none.

Also, research involving marijuana must use pot grown by the government. Yes thats right, our governement grows marijuana at the University of Mississippi, in fact our government has a PATENT for marijuana (a patent for a plant?). The problem with this is that the marijuana grown by our government is the lowest quality marijuana grown. But the truth is that only by studying the most potent strains of cannabis can we ever hope to find the true healing power. It would be like studying asprin to find a cure for migraines.

Research into marijuana is blocked by so much bureaucracy that it is all but impossible in America. This is solely due to cannabis' Schedule 1 status, denoting it as an incredibly dangerous drug that cannot be tested safely and has no medicinal value (never mind the fact that there is no lethal dose, all researchers contend that it is one of the safest to test, and thousands of doctors as well as 13 states affirm that it has medical viability). Even CRACK COCAINE is not schedule 1!! What kind of Twilight Zone do we live in???

Whether you agree with legalization or not, it is obvious that marijuana must be descheduled so that we can effectively study its actual potential for cancer treatment. The lives of our friends and family are at stake!

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» RE: medicine Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Great post dear Posted by: Grandma Crabby

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I find it hard to believe that inhaling burned...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ABetterFuture on Aug 28, 2009 6:54 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...anything is good for you.

There is just something about routinely passing smoke and gasses over delicate alveolar cells that strikes me as unhealthy. Still, it's an interesting study, and it is conceivable that just killing cells with MJ is better than inducing their proliferation with ciggies.

Now, don't get me wrong--I think that if folks are paying their way in the world, they should be allowed to engage in whatever behavior they'd like.

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» Re-read the article please Posted by: xmvince
» RE: e-read the article please Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» This is why pot should be Posted by: Grandma Crabby

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turning people into criminals
[Report this comment]
Posted by: james108 on Aug 28, 2009 6:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Making pot illegal has more harmful affects on society than the people who smoke it.
I do think it should be legal and better controlled and taxed when sold commercially. Smoking isn't all that great for your lungs either way, especially without a filter.

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it's all pretty silly yet tragic.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: dsmidiman on Aug 28, 2009 8:26 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have been a pot smoker for 30 plus years. I do not drink alcohol and I do not do prescription drugs or anything else. I've never experienced the "Gateway to harder drugs" thing. I am and have always been a productive member of society, married for 24 yrs, raised two beautiful children and have always worked and taken care of my responsibilities.

The only thing about smoking pot that has bothered me is the inhaling of smoke. I agree that even if tests prove that there are no cancer causing effects maybe even some cancer inhibiting effects of smoking pot you are still inhaling smoke and that can't be good for the lungs and respitory system in the long run. Thankfully I have not experienced that yet even at 54 yrs. old after 30 plus years of smoking it.

I have serious back problems (fused vertebras in my neck, old compression fracture in middle of my back and deginerative disk things going on in my lower back) and severe arthritis all up and down my back. Surgery and physical therapy have not eliminated the problem. Pot works best for me in terms of pain control. The risks involved with smoking pot vs taking prescription medication are minimal. There are many many benefits of MJ to the medical world. Glacoma patients, cancer patients, anorexia patients, the list goes on and on.

It truley amazes me that we have the technology to extract the active ingredient of MJ (THC) and put it in pill form so that you don't have to smoke it to get the benefits of it and we don't see THC pills available. Think of the billions of dollars spent researching and producing all kinds of drugs to combat and relieve some of the very symptoms that THC does which is in a plant that grows naturally out of the ground. It's just plain silly yet tragic.

I don't buy into the idea that everyone who smokes pot eventually goes onto harder drugs. Nor do I buy into the fact that everyone who smokes pot becomes this stupid irresponsible couch potato anymore than I buy into the fact that everyone who has a drink becomes this irresponsible wino that eventually ends up living on the streets begging for money. Or everyone who eats a Big Mac turns into a 500 pound blob that has to be mechanically hoisted to the bathroom. Or everyone that has a cup of coffee in the morning turns into this caffiene addicted, stressed out monster. These kinds of generalizations are rediculous. I am living proof of that and most people I know that smoke pot and have for years are equally as intelligent, responsible good people.

To me there are two reasons why MJ is not leagal in this country. The first is the "ALL MIGHT DOLLAR" There is far too much money to be made for the Pharmacutical companies by designing and selling the drugs that help with the same things MJ does. And more often than not these designer drugs can come with far worse side effects or long term negative effects than MJ does. Just listen to the commercials "May cause nausea, may destroy your liver, if you incur bleeding so on and so on" It's insane. Plus there is a whole lot of money (our tax dollars that could be used for much better and needed things) being made to arrest and incacerate people who use MJ.

The second reason is "control" The desire to have power and control over other people is destroying the human race. There are alot of people out there who just aren't happy unless everyone is living, breathing, believing and doing/not doing the exact same thing(s) they are. We as human beings have become so self centered and so greedy that we have lost all caring and compassion for each other. We are so consumed with the material things that we have vs what others have and our abilities to make everyone else see and do things the way we think they should be seen or done that we no longer even care about one another. We have no tolerance or compassion for one another anymore.

It's sad...

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» RE: it's all pretty silly yet tragic. Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN
» BRAVO!! Posted by: xmvince
» You are so right dear Posted by: Grandma Crabby
» You don't have to smoke it! Posted by: lesfrad

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Wanna legalize MJ? Ron Paul's HR 1866 is the answer.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maxpayne on Aug 28, 2009 8:31 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Let's see how many representatives in the House we can gather up to support this bill. From here, we can shut down the prohibition on Cannabis.

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Picky non-smokers.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: pinkfloydd on Aug 28, 2009 8:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
are always the ones raising a stink about the terrors of pot.

Get over it, and if you've never had a joint, don't make decisions and opinions about it or the peeps who do enjoy joints.

Why not invest all energies into removing the two main killers of our time, alcohol and tobacco (tobacco is LACED with deadly poisons and it's still legal???) off the market. We have tons and tons and tons of real research on the real dangers of alcohol and tobacco, yet we still get citizens worried about the no-issue of smoking pot...

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» RE: Picky non-smokers. Posted by: lesfrad

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Burden of History
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Posted by: stellabloo on Aug 28, 2009 8:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
To those people who did their research earlier on, none of this comes as any great surprise. Judging from many of the comments posted, there are those who will never move beyond outrage at the idea that smoking pot gets people 'high'.

Outrage! It is obvious that such an unnatural effect can only be BAD - in fact the SPCA should be joining with PETA any minute now to keep catnip out of the hands of abusive cat owners everywhere ... not only that, but little old ladies across the nation are slipping catnip extract into their tea - OUTRAGE.

What I'm driving at is that marijuana is the human equivalent of catnip, nothing more and nothing less, and any attempt to demonize a plant is just that, a war on a seed-bearing herb which right-wing biblical tradition teaches us is there for our benefit.

The demonization of pot originates in the yellow journalism of the 30's, when pot-smoking was correctly linked with poor mexican immigrants and such colored 'trash' as couldn't afford alcohol-based patent medicines - often spiked with hemp extract - popular right through Prohibition, much less a trip to the white folk's 'turkish' smoking saloon.

Historically, hemp flower tops were rendered in butterfat and ingested, or rubbed on screens to remove the crytallized resin and burned in large quantities as 'incense'. Much herbal folklore (not to mention midwifery skill) was lost in the Malleus Maleficarum, the witch hunt under Cromwell, which was not only a good source of confiscated goods and properties, but elevated physicians to a new, superior status. Previously they were known as 'leeches'.

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittainnica, hash was purchased by the pound in London markets. Again, only the poorest people had to resort to smoking scavenged flower tops; privileged white intellectuals (e.g. Baudelaire and LOUISA MAY ALCOTT) ate or smoked hash. Alcott even wrote a short story about 'a new game called 'eating hash''(!)

My other point is that people smoke pot because a) hash is not widely available
b) many people do not know how to cook it (I did post the recipe under the 'Burning Questions' article)
c) and even if they did, making pot butter is very smelly and somewhat time-consuming
d) and it is also possible to eat TOO MUCH. Then what? Pot smoking is self-regulating in that people do not usually smoke until they are unconscious - there is usually an optimum level of 'highness' which is in fact quite similar to the effect of a glass of wine or two on a light drinker. Much, in fact, like - catnip.

For anyone who hasn't done much research but would like to find out from other sources than alternet, here are some links:

The Report of the Canadian Government Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs (1972): Cannibis

"...several studies have discovered no relationship between cannabis use and grades. In the Commission's national survey of university students there was no significant difference in the overall grade distributions of cannabis users and nonusers. Two college surveys in the US have found that light or infrequent users had better academic records than either non-users or heavy users."

And in case you didn't know, cancer these days is BIG BUSINESS. Consider that in 1950, when we didn't even know how bad cigarettes were for you, only 1 in 10 people developed cancer vs. 1 in 3 today. There is something more than lifestyle choices at work here.

Politics of Cancer

and for those of you who don't want to spend that much time doing your own research:
2 min History of Weed video

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» RE: Burden of History Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Possible website dangers? Posted by: Amy27605
» RE: Possible website dangers? Posted by: stellabloo
» RE: Cancer is BIG BUSINESS Posted by: kettleblack
» RE: Burden of History Posted by: lesfrad

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"CHICAGOLAND" CRIME
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Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN on Aug 28, 2009 8:58 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The imbecile who initially posted the reference to the above accidentally poont4ed everyone to the very best argument AGAINST pot being illegal.

What was the absolute biggest thing in CHICAGOLAND which was brought about by prohibition??

Those of us who think in the real world will know the correct answer to that.

The current drug laws are causing and prolonging the very same things.

BTW-I was born in Chicago and lived there for the first 26 years of my life and went back to live there for several more later.

OK, who will be the first with the correct answer to what prohibition caused in Chicago?

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» BOOZE! Posted by: Grandma Crabby
» RE: BOOZE! Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN

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Some thoughts
[Report this comment]
Posted by: willymack on Aug 28, 2009 9:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's funny how having a few beers at a backyard barbeque is considered "normal", while lighting up a joint at the same gathering would be considered degenerate by many of those there.
This is one facet of the mental and emotional conditioning we've been hammered with over the years.
Considering the fact that drinking a few beers produces much the same effect that smoking a joint does, it's easy to see that both are social lubricants and pretty harmless in and of themselves.
Just don't drive or operate heavy machinery after doing either.
I've never had any moral objections to getting high, either by rapidly spinning and falling to the ground, face up to see the stars spin, having a few beers, or using other psychoactive drugs.
It just so happens that putting a burning object in one's mouth, drawing the smoke through it, and inhaling the smoke, seems to me to be absurd. Taking hits of acid when I have such a vivid imagination seems equally silly.
But that's me. What do I know?
The point here is that I'm not about to judge someone else who prefers something else over beer, wine, or something more potent.
This brings us to the fact that everything, other thal alcohol that gets you high is ILLEGAL.
You gotta wonder WHY this is.
In the good ol' U S of A, almost everything has a profit motive behind it. The phony "war on drugs" is no exception.
Lesee, what could the profit motive possibly consist of here? Hmmmmmmm.

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» RE: Some thoughts Posted by: Benn_Miller
» Don't smoke it... Posted by: lesfrad

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for my Alternet Fellow Travellors!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 28, 2009 9:24 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
look.....I'm not a bit stoned!

I have no cigs! Hardly any food! My rent is due in a few days! I am overdrawn at the bank! My car is broken down! I have a loan coming due! I've hardly eaten a thing in days and days and days and days.......

WHAT IS GOING ON???

If any of this is real....if I have helped anyone!

PLEASE!

I am hungry! I've been eating brussels sprouts for three frigging days! I need red meat!

I'm out of tea!

I do NOT want to sit here ALONE and watch Senator Teddy be buried!

I WON'T!

I am NOT putting on my tv again till someone comes to my door! Not even for Keith and Rachel!

A real flesh and blood person to tell me what is going on! what in heaven and on earth is going on?

This is my last post to Alternet till I hear from someone!

Otherwise this is all a long crazy wonderful somewhat twisted dream, or I've died.

In which case I need no food, rent, a car, cigs, a flesh and blood friend..........

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» Calm down and relax already. Posted by: Benn_Miller
» RE: for my Alternet Fellow Travellors! Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN
» Can I have your CD's, Posted by: slugsucker
» Roses are red, Violets are blue Posted by: Stoney 12+1

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podcast of Harvard scientist defending mj
[Report this comment]
Posted by: aristopus on Aug 28, 2009 9:46 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Here's a podcast by Dr. Lester Grinspoon defending and corroborating the Fred Gardner article. It is available for other websites concerned about marijuana prohibition.

The website is rable.ca podcast 127.

Lester is the first world-class scientist to speak against marijuana prohibition. His website is marijuana-uses.com. Lester is former Dean of Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry.

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More to the point...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: CaliJim on Aug 28, 2009 10:01 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
All this sturm and drang over whether smoking marijuana will or won't give you cancer...while completely ignoring the most pertinent point.

If we legalize Marijuana, legal producers can provide measured doses of THC in a capsule or liquid form that would no longer require us to smoke it. Of course, those who prefer to smoke it would still be able to buy it that way, but it would give an option to avoid smoking it altogether...making the question of whether it causes or prevents cancer a moot point.

In addition, we can eliminate the profits of the gangs who grow and sell it, which (just like ending Prohibition) would reduce the violence associated with those gangs and profits...as well as no longer forcing pot smokers to associate with a criminal element to obtain their pot...and limiting their access to more seriously dangerous drugs like Cocaine, Heroin and Meth.

Throw in the savings to the country of not spending billions of dollars arresting and imprisoning otherwise law abiding and productive citizens - along with restoring the taxes we would collect on the incomes they would have made if their lives were not ruined by being put in prison - and the taxes we could collect on the sale of pot and it becomes obvious that keeping pot illegal is simply "Carrie Nation"-style insane zealotry that is costing us far, far too much!

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» RE: More to the point...part 1 Posted by: txpeloton
» RE: More to the point...part 2 Posted by: txpeloton
» RE: You sound like a lawyer Posted by: kettleblack
» RE: More to the point... Posted by: lesfrad

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legalize faster, please
[Report this comment]
Posted by: alturn on Aug 28, 2009 10:30 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you had an idea who is making money off the pot trade down here at the border, you would either want to give up smoking pot or accelerate your efforts to get it legalized. The folks profiting from the status quo are from both the right, right wing of the democratic party and the cynical public rapist part of the republican party. These "pillars of society" screw the public at every turn yet consistently get rewarded with social and political position.

As a non-smoker and non-drinker, say we cannot go fast enough to lift the dark cloud of pot prohibition and drain the ponds of corruption that it feeds.

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It's only truth....
[Report this comment]
Posted by: reignfire80 on Aug 28, 2009 11:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'd like to formally thank alternet for posting these new credible findings toward pot. People need to understand that they aren't trying to promote the use of pot, just educate what's been being held from us for so long. The healthier alternative than alcohol or tobacco.... i.e. non addictive, non cancer forming, the benifits of medicinal use...etc..etc..

It's not the big green monster that it's been made out to be, primarily by the government.

Sure there's street violence including the smuggling of marijuana to this country along with pounds among pounds being pushed by dealers reaching our schools.

Your reason. Not because it's the "devil".
It's because it's illegal.

We could handle this just like alcohol and regulated nearly exactly the same....

Sorry... but i just really want to say thanks for promoting the truth alternet.

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Same Old Story
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Posted by: scottportraits on Aug 28, 2009 12:21 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have been hearing this kind of thing for quite some time now. In the mid 70s a commission was appointed under then President Gerald Ford to prove marijuana caused (lung) cancer. When the commission started to show data suggesting just the opposite effect, that using cannabis might actually inhibit tumor growth, Ford fired the commission and banned the study.

If 1 of every 3 or 4 will get this disease in the USA, then why would we be suppressing all the evidence and refusing to study the matter out ??

Something is rotten in Washington, not Denmark, my dear Hamlet.

Corn and paper-mill giants are in back of all this; hateful that hemp may replace their products, and undermining their profits.

*** Wake up, America!! Make marijuana a campaign issue in 2010, and 2012.

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» RE: Same Old Story Posted by: lesfrad

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Smoking Marijuana May Not Cause Lung Cancer - But It Can Make You Very Silly and Laugh a Lot..
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 12:49 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And in my case - result in me giving all my money away in the hope that the money would be used in Africa to save the lives of hundreds of innocent people starving to death...

So of course - THEY want it banned.

People are not allowed to be nice to each other and be silly and laugh and joke...

We are just supposed to be rats in the machine - on the hamster wheel...

It never did me any harm

It just made me paranoid

Yes - it rally dies do that as well

So after, I had given all my money away and gone paranoid...I gave it up and went back to work..

And got married and had kids.

Our kids don't do it...

Well not so far as I can tell

You see - I know what cannabis does to you...

Sure its O.K. in moderation - but it sends you off to another place where you really can't be bothered to learn something new - unless it is artistic - to stimulate the creative side of your brain -

So it may be O.K. for creating good new ideas - just in a sort of idea kind of thing

But you simply have to give it up and be completely straight

To turn the idea into Reality

And it is Really Nice Experiencing Your Brain when it is completely clear of all drugs except caffeine and nicotine

And do some really hard energitic physical exercise - and get really high

I used to work with an Indian Guy who used to go back home into the middle of India for 6 weeks every two years

He never took any drugs except - to be sociable maybe half a pint of Guiness at Christmas time - though of course he was not a Christian

I used to tell him what it was like being really stoned...

And he used to tell me how to do it properly via meditation amongt people who have absolutely nothing

And when it rains for the first time in 2 years - it is complete Jubilation...

Because the plants will grow and we will be able to eat

Tony

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titusoye, may i suggest you contact LEAP [Law Enforcement Against Prohobition] links provided
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Bearzerker on Aug 28, 2009 1:49 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Law Enforcement Against Prohobition -Mission Statement-"
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP): Feedback Form"

...Posted by: titusoye on Aug 28
By how many ways or for how much supposedly "gains" (is there really anything to gain?) must we continue to endanger the lives of the gullible teenager? When did pot become the water of life?
Why is AlterNet devoting so much space to the subject?...

Prohibition fuels organized criminal activity
just like it did to Al Capone and his Murder Inc. criminal empire...
just look at the similaries and compare the realities of then and now...

It is this reason imho why Alterent needs to champion the ending to Prohibition...
If you take away Organized Crimes number one cash cow,
YOU WILL NOTICE a reduction of the criminality that you are [and rightly so] so concerned about!

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How The Fuck Can You Ban a Plant? Has Anyone Tried To Ban an Animal?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 2:03 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Us Aliens who have infiltrated YOU from the planet Zog don't like Wolves and Lions and Tigers...

So we are Going To Ban Them and Kill All YOU Humans..

And then they move on to The Weeds

We Don't Like You and We Have Brought Monsanto In

To Kill You All and All The Food - That Is Not Under Our Direct Control Through Our TERMINATOR Seeds

And Us Normal People

Say - You Are Not Nice Aliens

And We Are Going To Collect all you horrible Aliens up - and build a rocket - which will have a spaceship attached...

We will not kill you...

We are just going to send you to another planet where you can extract the resources that you need to build your metallic robots...

Because You are Not Wanted Here on Our Planet Earth...

So

FUCK OFF

Tony

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» For God's Sake! Posted by: Stoney 12+1

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Wow man, like, this is so totally cool, like freaking far out man...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: slugsucker on Aug 28, 2009 3:24 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
like, I can really dig it man, like, I'm totally with you, I can totally feel your vibe, like, right on, and power to the people, and like, hey man, you got any Haagen-Dazs or Oreos, or man like even some Twinkies or Ho-hos or something, like I'm really, really freaking hungry right now....

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And in case you are wondering we did go to Cuba about 8 or 9 years ago
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 3:45 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And they didn't have any toilet paper inside the toilets

And they did have girls sitting outside selling toilet paper by the sheet

And it made Me REALLY HATE AMERICANS

AND LOVE CUBANS

I didn;t go Communist Though

I thought Cuba was the most extreme Capitalist Country I had ever visited...

Well Not Really

They Just Screwed The Rich Captalist Tourists Rotten

If you couldn't say in Spanish

I just want to wipe my arse

Tony

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In India People Are Much Nicer - They Welcome You To Crap In Their Toilet
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 4:06 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Which is Just a Bucket

And They Leave You a Free Jug Of Water that they have collected from the Well an Hours Walk Way

And say ...


No Don't Worry about THAT

We Really Love Your Piss and Shit

We seperate The Piss From The Shit

And Absolutely

NOTHING

Is Wasted

And You Look at The Pigs Eating Your Shit

After Having The Best Steak In Your Life

Fuck Knows What They Feed The Bulls With

And The Cows

But The Steak In India - Done Really Rare...

My Wife Said - This Is The Best Steak I Have Ever Had in My Life

So Rare, Delicate, Tasteful and Juicy

It just melts in your mouth

No False Teeth Required

Tony

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Just Accept - You Are An American - And Haven't Travelled Anywhere
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 4:28 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have just read about it on the Internet - or seen it on TV or read about it in a book...

But most of you haven't even travelled outside your home State - let alone your home Country

And you think you are the Richest Nation in The World and Can Control The Rest Of The Planet With Your Bombs and Your Negative Money and Your Bullshit and Your Threats and Your Violence

And You Ain't Been Anywhere

You Haven't a Fucking Clue About Anything

You Do Not Know What It Is Like

To Live With People As They Are

On Our Planet

And You Feel So Threatened

And Most People On Our Planet Have Never Even Heard of You

Tony

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Most People in The World Know a Few Words of ENGLISH and If They Don't We Communicate By Gestures
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 4:46 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Everyone On The Planet Understand Gestures...

I immediately know when he gestures to me - I want to shag your wife - and I gesture to him - I want to shag yours...

But we can't otherwise we will be in deep trouble - so lets just be good friends instead...

And All Over The World

We are invited into peoples homes - and they invite us to eat with them...

Just sit down with us...

What is Your Name?

I am Tony

This is Julie

What is Your Name

I am ...

His wife interrupts...

And says...

I am...

In whatever language...

It doesn't matter

We are just so glad to meet each other from such totally different cultures...

And we Realise

We are Just The Same

Tony

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Marijuana Truth and the Results of Common Prejudice
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Posted by: hadashito on Aug 28, 2009 4:50 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It may be tolerated (or not) that the scientific community sometimes (often ? ask Darwin supporters) foul up in ignoring the results of valid scientific studies and accepting weak ones that are easily refuted. Scientists can be prejudiced just like anyone else, especially regarding a controversial subject. History has recorded a veritable encyclopedia of such instances going all the way back to Galileo.
But this instance is worse, since it reeks of the foul stench of our clueless and failing media.

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Marijuana Truth and the Results of Common Prejudice
[Report this comment]
Posted by: hadashito on Aug 28, 2009 4:50 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It may be tolerated (or not) that the scientific community sometimes (often ? ask Darwin supporters) foul up in ignoring the results of valid scientific studies and accepting weak ones that are easily refuted. Scientists can be prejudiced just like anyone else, especially regarding a controversial subject. History has recorded a veritable encyclopedia of such instances going all the way back to Galileo.
But this instance is worse, since it reeks of the foul stench of our clueless and failing media.

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So After We Looked Into Each Others Eyes At Stonehenge Free Summer Solstice Festival in 1982...
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 5:33 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We went on a cheap package holiday to Agadir...

And thought what the fuck is this???

It looks like a Tourist Resort...

And the weather was crap...

We wanted to go to a hippy village about 30 miles up the coast

We couldn't possibly afford to hire a car...

So we thought what the hell...

And before we went - we had both been told the most horrendous second or third or fourth hand stories about travelling in Morocco

But thought we will find Morocco for ourselves...

So went hitch-hiking

My Wife is Slim and Blonde and Beautiful...

I Stuck My Thumb Up

Within 30 seconds a Car Stopped and Offerred Us a Lift..but they were only going local...

And a minute later it happenned again..they were only going local

Two minutes later....

We were on our way...

And when we arrived...

They all insisted we come to their tent

And these 3 Moroccan Guys cooked us a Beautiful Meal...

And we went swimming in the Sea together...

And then they drove us all the 30 miles back to our hotel in Agadir...

And the Hotel Security Tried To Gesture To Us - That They Couldn't Come In

I Made It Completely CLEAR - That These People With Me Might Be Moroccan - But They Are My Friends - And YOU Will Let Them In and Be Nice To Them...

And so our 3 Friends Gave us a Massive Tour of Morocco and Took Us To Places No Ordinary Tourist Would Ever See

And The English Tourists - Accused Us Of Doing a Drugs Deal - Whilst They were missing what was going on...

I said don't be so fucking stupid...

Do you really think we would do that??

We've seen Midnight Express

And my wife really wanted to go to Turkey...

But we didn't until nearly 20 years later

We went to Thailand instead

Tony

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I Have Never Sold Any Drugs In My Life And Haven't Bought Any Since 1985..
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 6:00 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But when we are in foreign lands and we are both asked to smoke the Peace Pipe - well it would be impolite not to inhale...

Or even closer to home for that matter

We had gone to see The Australian Pink Floyd...

and I just nicked out for a smoke at half time (Bensons & Hedges)

And this Aussie Girl said - do you want to have some of this? Well she may not have been Aussie - actually - I thought she was a bloke...

But such kindness - in the place where I least expected it...

And so Australian Pink Floyd did Comfortably Numb...

But I thought Meddle was Better

Tony

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I haven't sold any drugs in a long time ;.)
[Report this comment]
Posted by: stellabloo on Aug 28, 2009 6:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I finally escaped from waitressing when I quit using alcohol and tobacco.

I sold pot to rich kids at the ski hill. It was a whole different life and quite lovely. For the first time in my life I had a clean and modern apartment and I was the first one at the ski lift every morning.

This went on for a couple of years then I felt like I needed a real job so I went tree-planting.

When I had a baby, I realized my treeplanting days were numbered so I went back to school.

That Christmas, my poor old Dodge Aspen died (on the way to the ski hill), and the college called me up to tell me I had been nominated for a $5000 scholarship.

I bought a new car and some climbing skins when I got the first cheque.

Cheers, tony - but always remember - it takes all kinds ;.)

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I have a hard time believing shooting up purified mold...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: leighsure on Aug 28, 2009 7:02 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
could possibly good for anybody. Yet that is what penicillin is. I think the problem is that you have a hard time imagining anything outside your small world of understanding. You don't take the time to educate yourself beyond your prejudices.
Marijuana, in one form or another has been around for millenia, and it's not about to disappear despite corporate fearmongers' worst efforts. You don't have to smoke, ingest, or use it in suppository form. You are free to choose your own method of slow or quick death. Just allow others to have that same freedom.

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And Americans Think an Oasis Is a Place In The African Desert Where Camels Get Their Refill of Water
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 7:59 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Which is True...

And They Have No Idea About ELBOW - who are so much better - or Kasabien or for that matter

So I try and educate them - forget about all these English Bands and Go and See

Le Cor De La Plana

Tony

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Last Night
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Posted by: Stoney 12+1 on Aug 29, 2009 7:21 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn't there,

He wasn't there again today,

The acid made him go away!

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For what it's worth - "I and Love and You"
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Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 30, 2009 4:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"I and Love and You"


Load the car and write the note.
Grab your bag and grab your coat.
Tell the ones that need to know.
We are headed north.

One foot in and one foot back.
But it don’t pay to live like that.
So I cut the ties and I jumped the track.
For never to return.

Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

When at first I learned to speak.
I used all my words to fight.
With him and her and you and me.
Ahh, but it's just a waste of time.
Yeah it’s such a waste of time.

That woman she’s got eyes that shine.
Like a pair of stolen polished dimes.
She asked to dance I said it’s fine.
I’ll see you in the morning time.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Three words that became hard to say.
I and Love and You.
What you were than I am today.
Look at the things I do.

Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Dumbed down and numbed by time and age.
You’re dreams that catch the world the cage.
The highway sets the travelers stage.
All exits look the same.

Three words that became hard to say.
I and Love and You.
I and Love and You.
I and Love and You.


Three words that became hard to say...

I and Love and You.................

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Cannabis; a medicine for thousands of years
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Posted by: musclecarfreak on Aug 30, 2009 6:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There isn’t even a need for debate here! Cannabis has been used for medicine and recreation with no lasting adverse reaction for thousands of years. Do prohibitionists really think their misguided moralistic objections are going to change that? Come on! It’s time to let go of ideology for the sake of scientific progress thus stopping the slayings of thousands and decrease family separation which are promoted solely by prohibition policies.

Look, if an adult vaporizes or consumes cannabis in food there will be absolutely no lasting negative physiological occurrence. No killing of brain cells, no cancer, no psychosis, nothing. If any of these things were caused by cannabis consumption the people effected or the dead would be paraded in front of the world by prohibitionists. As it stands (for thousands of years) they don’t have one case of the above to show for their misinformation and half-truths.

Google search the key words below for a few studies on cannabis:

1) Memory loss can be beneficial for PTSD and Manic depressive disorder
2) Fox News Marijuana Does Not Raise Lung Cancer Risk
3) PubMed Effects of cannabis on lung function: a population-based cohort study.
4) Marijuana's Active Ingredient Targets Deadly Brain Cancer
5) ncbi A Population-Based Case-Control Study of Marijuana Use and Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
6) WebMD Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain
7) ScienceDirect Assessing the impact of cannabis use on trends in diagnosed schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005
8) Marijuana Research: Debunking the amotivational syndrome
9) Cannabidiol: from an inactive cannabinoid to a drug with wide spectrum of action
10) WebMD Chemicals in marijuana may fight MRSA
11) ncbi The endocannabinoid system and multiple sclerosis

Dangerous drug? Sience says no!

Watch the best marijuana documentary ever -> Google: The Union Google Video

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Marijuana linked to schizophrenia...and stupidity
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Posted by: Mr Nobody on Aug 30, 2009 7:43 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
For some reason, proponents of marijuana legalization leave out research from Great Britain that suggests that marijuana has a 1% chance of leading to schizophrenia in users who smoke it after the age of 15 and a 2% chance of inducing the mental illness in those who smoke it before the age of 15. Within the brain, the drug actually mimics the brain activation patterns of schizophrenia, which some researchers say explains its effects in impaired judgment.

Marijuana proponents also never deal with the real issue behind why we should not legalize the drug--it creates more stupid people. Granted, alcohol also creates stupid people and is legal but should not be. However, because one drug is legally increasing the number of idiots walking around does not justify advocating another drug that also encourages stupid behavior. The main effect of marijuana is that it impairs judgment. Do we really need more people with impaired judgment in the world?

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I Like Weed!!!
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Posted by: Rasplanet on Aug 30, 2009 8:23 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have smoked pot for nearly forty years. It has never made me sick. It has never interfered with my work.(as some say it will)Well! unless you count my going to jail for a roach and ended up being late for work. It will never be legal because it brings in too much revenue, especially for the local gubamint.
My sympathy to the families of those who are doing time in prison or jail for marijuana. It's wrong for the govt. to imprison someone for possession of a harmless herb. It's just plain mean and low down. All us pot smokers should go to washington and light up right there in front of the washington monument. Tell the govt. to go to hell. We like herbs.

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» RE: I Like Weed!!! Posted by: lesfrad

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TYPO RE: Apoptosis?
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Posted by: steveselverston on Aug 31, 2009 1:08 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Just to point out an error in the article, I believe it should have said that marijuana prevents apoptosis rather than promoting it. Apoptosis is the programmed cell division that happens as [cancer] cells reproduce and grow.

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Forget it
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Juven on Sep 1, 2009 11:27 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
once the pharmie companies hear about this they will be donating even more money to anti-pot groups. They don't want an end to cancer--too much big money and don't forget "law enforcement"--what would they do without the drug war? They might have to worry about real crimes.

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clae shoes
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Posted by: fenqing on Sep 3, 2009 3:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]

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Tashkin’s data showing that marijuana
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Posted by: teon6 on Sep 19, 2009 2:40 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the components in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin et al. who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab’s finding that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin’s data showing melrose place subtitles melrose place subs rf remote control four channel rf remote control how i met your mother subtitles how i met your mother subs seropol5 that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze, and produce sputum.

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Alternet Comments:

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Smile If You Love Marijuana
[Report this comment]
Posted by: RevolutionNet on Aug 28, 2009 1:07 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

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» No, DO glamorize it. Posted by: Tweck9
» RE: No, DO glamorize it. Posted by: CatDad
» RE: No, DO glamorize it. Posted by: winchelenator

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Hemp and Marijuana
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Posted by: Carts on Aug 28, 2009 1:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks to the chemical and oil industries, Harry Anslinger and Dupont, the atmosphere is now poison.

If we had been free to use weed and hemp, the world might be a lot better than now.

Thanks to oil for killing earth

Now I am going out for a joint

Ahhhh weeeeeed!

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» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: titusoye
» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: HoboHomo
» It's the 2Wackgo, stupid Posted by: tokerdesigner
» RE: Hemp and Marijuana Posted by: lesfrad

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Deadly Violence on Chicagoland Streets
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Posted by: titusoye on Aug 28, 2009 1:33 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When will an AlterNet analyst do some serious investigation on the deadly violence on Chicagoland Streets? Remembering that the 'street' only knows the price of "things" but the value of "nothing," whose responsibility will it become to educate the 13 year old on the amount of pot safe for him or her to use. One thing I know is that the number of the 13 years old reading AlterNet analyses on pot and other related subjects is zero. By how many ways or for how much supposedly "gains" (is there really anything to gain?) must we continue to endanger the lives of the gullible teenager? When did pot become the water of life? Why is AlterNet devoting so much space to the subject? I tried to be a liberal but I don't know why pot should become the opium of the liberals. I am just asking questions!

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» RE: You don't think, so... Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» There is no "too much" pot Posted by: Tweck9
» SMOKE A JOINT Posted by: americansheep

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Amazing1
[Report this comment]
Posted by: cy31b on Aug 28, 2009 1:34 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Smokers of tobacco or weed or anything will seek out ANY excuse to continue their habits, no matter how it affects their bodies. Simple logic in reading this article makes it clear that emphysema and bronchitis are often the result of smoking all products, and that cancer of the prostate, testes and neck are possible. Any substance containing smoke is not good for you. Fresh air is good , and it's free. It's that simple.

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» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: heartcore
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: Mrs. Jefferson
» RE: To Mrs. Jefferson Posted by: musclecarfreak
» not really so "Amazing1" Posted by: permanentilt
» RE: I'd like to know... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: Karlh
» RE: Vaporizers 101 Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Vaporizers 101 Posted by: Karlh
» Why?!? Posted by: WhuThe?!?
» RE: Why?!? Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Why?!? Posted by: nickrhoward
» go fuck yerself KARL! Posted by: foreverhope
» Talk therapy has limits Posted by: Grandma Crabby
» EXPLAIN VAPORIZERS to us Oh Snide One... Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: mainspark
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: xmvince
» RE: Amazing1 Posted by: lesfrad

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Medicinal Though It May Be...
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Posted by: billslm on Aug 28, 2009 1:48 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What I see is that if marijuana were shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to cure cancer, cook your bacon and eggs to perfection, and shine your shoes as it did so, the powers that be, would still find a way to prevent its' decriminalization. The puritanical element cannot tolerate the notion of a populace which approves of people getting high and enjoying themselves. After all, finally, they must have reason to arrest some people and marijuana is a good reason. It's a power and control thing.

Then there is job preservation of the DEA. How could we have a DEA without kicking people's doors in at 3 AM? Think of all the judges who have sent people up for 20 years because they were found to be in possession of a single ounce. Why, those judges might be thought to be corrupt. Tsk,tsk, we can't have that.

You saw how Obama reacted to the audience of ordinary citizens who asked him to legalize MJ. He wouldn't go near it. And he won't go near it. Marijuana may be physically beneficial, but it's political poison.

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» The powers that be have changed! Posted by: foreverhope
» RE: The powers that be have changed! Posted by: pelican beak
» RE: Medicinal Though It May Be... Posted by: richholland
» RE: Legalize! Posted by: Sister_Lauren

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Thank you God
[Report this comment]
Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 28, 2009 2:37 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And FRED! What a GRAND IRISH name you have dear one!

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» RE: Thank you God Posted by: Mrs. Jefferson
» Aren't you the little witch Posted by: xmvince

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Pot Shots
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Posted by: Tom Degan on Aug 28, 2009 5:05 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How many people have I known personally who have died of lung cancer due to nicotine?

At least one hundred.

How many people have I known personally who have died of cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism?

At least one hundred.

How many people have I known personally who have died from too much grass?

[Long, awkward pause]

Let me get back to you....

[Longer, more awkward pause]

Well whaddaya know! It hasn't happened in all recorded human history!

I need a drink

Rady Ananda on the End of Camelot

Tom Degan, Goshen, NY

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» RE: Pot Shots Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Pot Shots Posted by: Rasplanet
» RE: Pot Shots Posted by: lesfrad

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who gives a damn
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Talleyrand on Aug 28, 2009 5:10 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sorry, I don't care much either way. I am also so tired of everybody whooping up drugs all the time and I am also tired of having to deal with people who are half asleep all the time. Really. It's nervewracking. I, personally, do not drink alcohol, I do not take drugs. I don't think that smoking weed makes you a terrific poet, or a great arteest, an interesting revolutionary thinker, or anything other than a boring, self-centered, bland individual.... I am just young enough to have experienced all those hippies trying to be politically engaged and hardly able to get out of bed in the morning. Wow, what a great success that was!

Weed, like religion and alcohol, has become the opium of the people.

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» RE: who gives a damn Posted by: Mrs. Jefferson
» RE: Weezy Jefferson hasn't a clue. Posted by: sasquuatch55
» people with cancer probably do! Posted by: permanentilt
» RE: a return to the moral high ground Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: He's tired of freedom Posted by: kettleblack
» RE: who gives a damn Posted by: blogfrog
» You need to get out more Posted by: WhuThe?!?
» RE: what other subject... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: what other subject... Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: what other subject... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: who gives a damn Posted by: lesfrad

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bbholidaypants
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Posted by: blogfrog on Aug 28, 2009 6:28 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The results of the study are compelling and potheads should take comfort in knowing they are probably going to keel over someday from something other than lung cancer.

Medical users of cannibis can breathe a sigh of relief.

But here's the rub...using pot like using alcohol has but one deliverable...to render the user stupid. Maybe a little maybe a lot depending on intake but the fact remains you ingest something that precludes you from intelligence driven interaction with your environment. I made a career out of being stupid in college and a bit beyond graduation. I made an even longer career on the alcohol side of the equation.

I've dropped both now from my life resume and wow...it's pretty cool to drive the bus with the carbs blown out and the injectors not sticking and the engine purring.

Still make mistakes but now they are mine and I can intelligently assess where things go wrong and fix it rather quickly.

We americans have been sold a bill of substance abuse we foist upon ourselves as cutting loose or being free or the rebel. Our popular culture romanticizes substance abuse to the point that the very act of "living" simply cannot occur "normally" without it. Huh?

Next time you get stupid have a designated videographer (and driver) capture a day or evening starting with you speaking to the camera for five minutes on anything...before you've ingested anything. Then have your videographer get 5 more minutes at the end of your day ...the last thing before calling it a night or morning.

Try it

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» RE: bbholidaypants Posted by: sevengen
» AREN'T YOU JUST SO SPECIAL?? Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» You're very confused Posted by: xmvince
» RE: Inate stupidity Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: bbholidaypants Posted by: lesfrad

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marijuana would kill me though
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maisnon55 on Aug 28, 2009 6:34 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've got 26 years of recovery from drugs and alcohol....I'd be dead, worse yet, back in my addiction if I touched the stuff...I won't be using it for pain, it would bring on pain of a whole different kind.

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» having said that Posted by: maisnon55
» RE: big improvement Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» so what's your point? Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» RE: marijuana would kill me though Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN

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todd432
[Report this comment]
Posted by: todd432 on Aug 28, 2009 6:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Media is worse than the Government. When all is said and done and Pot becomes Legal I will never watch ANY cable news shows again and I would suggest others to do so as well. At least you can get the truth on the internet.

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The comments here really miss the point
[Report this comment]
Posted by: permanentilt on Aug 28, 2009 6:50 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think most of the comments on this thread are preoccupied by this article as it relates to recreational smoking of marijuana, not the fact that this study shows potential anti-cancer properties of cannabanoids.

Other recently published studies have shown marijuana smokers have reduced rates of head and neck cancers and another one shows marijuana even reduces risk of prostate cancer.

Most people, upon hearing this say, "Yeah right, if marijuana had anti-cancer properties science would have found it by now." But the truth is, no it wouldn't. (well actually, yes it would and has, but it is impossible to get the FDA i.e. the government to recognize this)

The reason is that marijuana is a schedule 1 drug, meaning that it has no medicinal properties. This means that all proposed research on marijuana must be cleared by the FDA, but even before being cleared by the FDA it must be cleared by the DEA. The DEA is HIGHLY resistant to approving any studies on marijuana, for obvious reasons since that is their job. The DEA notoriously cherrypicks research on marijuana which is proposed by anti-marijuana scientists. This article mentions that, this study was done by a group expecting to find cancerous properties of marijuana smoke, but were surprised to find none.

Also, research involving marijuana must use pot grown by the government. Yes thats right, our governement grows marijuana at the University of Mississippi, in fact our government has a PATENT for marijuana (a patent for a plant?). The problem with this is that the marijuana grown by our government is the lowest quality marijuana grown. But the truth is that only by studying the most potent strains of cannabis can we ever hope to find the true healing power. It would be like studying asprin to find a cure for migraines.

Research into marijuana is blocked by so much bureaucracy that it is all but impossible in America. This is solely due to cannabis' Schedule 1 status, denoting it as an incredibly dangerous drug that cannot be tested safely and has no medicinal value (never mind the fact that there is no lethal dose, all researchers contend that it is one of the safest to test, and thousands of doctors as well as 13 states affirm that it has medical viability). Even CRACK COCAINE is not schedule 1!! What kind of Twilight Zone do we live in???

Whether you agree with legalization or not, it is obvious that marijuana must be descheduled so that we can effectively study its actual potential for cancer treatment. The lives of our friends and family are at stake!

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» RE: medicine Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Great post dear Posted by: Grandma Crabby

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I find it hard to believe that inhaling burned...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ABetterFuture on Aug 28, 2009 6:54 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...anything is good for you.

There is just something about routinely passing smoke and gasses over delicate alveolar cells that strikes me as unhealthy. Still, it's an interesting study, and it is conceivable that just killing cells with MJ is better than inducing their proliferation with ciggies.

Now, don't get me wrong--I think that if folks are paying their way in the world, they should be allowed to engage in whatever behavior they'd like.

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» Re-read the article please Posted by: xmvince
» RE: e-read the article please Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» This is why pot should be Posted by: Grandma Crabby

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turning people into criminals
[Report this comment]
Posted by: james108 on Aug 28, 2009 6:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Making pot illegal has more harmful affects on society than the people who smoke it.
I do think it should be legal and better controlled and taxed when sold commercially. Smoking isn't all that great for your lungs either way, especially without a filter.

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it's all pretty silly yet tragic.
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Posted by: dsmidiman on Aug 28, 2009 8:26 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have been a pot smoker for 30 plus years. I do not drink alcohol and I do not do prescription drugs or anything else. I've never experienced the "Gateway to harder drugs" thing. I am and have always been a productive member of society, married for 24 yrs, raised two beautiful children and have always worked and taken care of my responsibilities.

The only thing about smoking pot that has bothered me is the inhaling of smoke. I agree that even if tests prove that there are no cancer causing effects maybe even some cancer inhibiting effects of smoking pot you are still inhaling smoke and that can't be good for the lungs and respitory system in the long run. Thankfully I have not experienced that yet even at 54 yrs. old after 30 plus years of smoking it.

I have serious back problems (fused vertebras in my neck, old compression fracture in middle of my back and deginerative disk things going on in my lower back) and severe arthritis all up and down my back. Surgery and physical therapy have not eliminated the problem. Pot works best for me in terms of pain control. The risks involved with smoking pot vs taking prescription medication are minimal. There are many many benefits of MJ to the medical world. Glacoma patients, cancer patients, anorexia patients, the list goes on and on.

It truley amazes me that we have the technology to extract the active ingredient of MJ (THC) and put it in pill form so that you don't have to smoke it to get the benefits of it and we don't see THC pills available. Think of the billions of dollars spent researching and producing all kinds of drugs to combat and relieve some of the very symptoms that THC does which is in a plant that grows naturally out of the ground. It's just plain silly yet tragic.

I don't buy into the idea that everyone who smokes pot eventually goes onto harder drugs. Nor do I buy into the fact that everyone who smokes pot becomes this stupid irresponsible couch potato anymore than I buy into the fact that everyone who has a drink becomes this irresponsible wino that eventually ends up living on the streets begging for money. Or everyone who eats a Big Mac turns into a 500 pound blob that has to be mechanically hoisted to the bathroom. Or everyone that has a cup of coffee in the morning turns into this caffiene addicted, stressed out monster. These kinds of generalizations are rediculous. I am living proof of that and most people I know that smoke pot and have for years are equally as intelligent, responsible good people.

To me there are two reasons why MJ is not leagal in this country. The first is the "ALL MIGHT DOLLAR" There is far too much money to be made for the Pharmacutical companies by designing and selling the drugs that help with the same things MJ does. And more often than not these designer drugs can come with far worse side effects or long term negative effects than MJ does. Just listen to the commercials "May cause nausea, may destroy your liver, if you incur bleeding so on and so on" It's insane. Plus there is a whole lot of money (our tax dollars that could be used for much better and needed things) being made to arrest and incacerate people who use MJ.

The second reason is "control" The desire to have power and control over other people is destroying the human race. There are alot of people out there who just aren't happy unless everyone is living, breathing, believing and doing/not doing the exact same thing(s) they are. We as human beings have become so self centered and so greedy that we have lost all caring and compassion for each other. We are so consumed with the material things that we have vs what others have and our abilities to make everyone else see and do things the way we think they should be seen or done that we no longer even care about one another. We have no tolerance or compassion for one another anymore.

It's sad...

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» RE: it's all pretty silly yet tragic. Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN
» BRAVO!! Posted by: xmvince
» You are so right dear Posted by: Grandma Crabby
» You don't have to smoke it! Posted by: lesfrad

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Wanna legalize MJ? Ron Paul's HR 1866 is the answer.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maxpayne on Aug 28, 2009 8:31 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Let's see how many representatives in the House we can gather up to support this bill. From here, we can shut down the prohibition on Cannabis.

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Picky non-smokers.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: pinkfloydd on Aug 28, 2009 8:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
are always the ones raising a stink about the terrors of pot.

Get over it, and if you've never had a joint, don't make decisions and opinions about it or the peeps who do enjoy joints.

Why not invest all energies into removing the two main killers of our time, alcohol and tobacco (tobacco is LACED with deadly poisons and it's still legal???) off the market. We have tons and tons and tons of real research on the real dangers of alcohol and tobacco, yet we still get citizens worried about the no-issue of smoking pot...

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» RE: Picky non-smokers. Posted by: lesfrad

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Burden of History
[Report this comment]
Posted by: stellabloo on Aug 28, 2009 8:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
To those people who did their research earlier on, none of this comes as any great surprise. Judging from many of the comments posted, there are those who will never move beyond outrage at the idea that smoking pot gets people 'high'.

Outrage! It is obvious that such an unnatural effect can only be BAD - in fact the SPCA should be joining with PETA any minute now to keep catnip out of the hands of abusive cat owners everywhere ... not only that, but little old ladies across the nation are slipping catnip extract into their tea - OUTRAGE.

What I'm driving at is that marijuana is the human equivalent of catnip, nothing more and nothing less, and any attempt to demonize a plant is just that, a war on a seed-bearing herb which right-wing biblical tradition teaches us is there for our benefit.

The demonization of pot originates in the yellow journalism of the 30's, when pot-smoking was correctly linked with poor mexican immigrants and such colored 'trash' as couldn't afford alcohol-based patent medicines - often spiked with hemp extract - popular right through Prohibition, much less a trip to the white folk's 'turkish' smoking saloon.

Historically, hemp flower tops were rendered in butterfat and ingested, or rubbed on screens to remove the crytallized resin and burned in large quantities as 'incense'. Much herbal folklore (not to mention midwifery skill) was lost in the Malleus Maleficarum, the witch hunt under Cromwell, which was not only a good source of confiscated goods and properties, but elevated physicians to a new, superior status. Previously they were known as 'leeches'.

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittainnica, hash was purchased by the pound in London markets. Again, only the poorest people had to resort to smoking scavenged flower tops; privileged white intellectuals (e.g. Baudelaire and LOUISA MAY ALCOTT) ate or smoked hash. Alcott even wrote a short story about 'a new game called 'eating hash''(!)

My other point is that people smoke pot because a) hash is not widely available
b) many people do not know how to cook it (I did post the recipe under the 'Burning Questions' article)
c) and even if they did, making pot butter is very smelly and somewhat time-consuming
d) and it is also possible to eat TOO MUCH. Then what? Pot smoking is self-regulating in that people do not usually smoke until they are unconscious - there is usually an optimum level of 'highness' which is in fact quite similar to the effect of a glass of wine or two on a light drinker. Much, in fact, like - catnip.

For anyone who hasn't done much research but would like to find out from other sources than alternet, here are some links:

The Report of the Canadian Government Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs (1972): Cannibis

"...several studies have discovered no relationship between cannabis use and grades. In the Commission's national survey of university students there was no significant difference in the overall grade distributions of cannabis users and nonusers. Two college surveys in the US have found that light or infrequent users had better academic records than either non-users or heavy users."

And in case you didn't know, cancer these days is BIG BUSINESS. Consider that in 1950, when we didn't even know how bad cigarettes were for you, only 1 in 10 people developed cancer vs. 1 in 3 today. There is something more than lifestyle choices at work here.

Politics of Cancer

and for those of you who don't want to spend that much time doing your own research:
2 min History of Weed video

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» RE: Burden of History Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Possible website dangers? Posted by: Amy27605
» RE: Possible website dangers? Posted by: stellabloo
» RE: Cancer is BIG BUSINESS Posted by: kettleblack
» RE: Burden of History Posted by: lesfrad

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"CHICAGOLAND" CRIME
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Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN on Aug 28, 2009 8:58 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The imbecile who initially posted the reference to the above accidentally poont4ed everyone to the very best argument AGAINST pot being illegal.

What was the absolute biggest thing in CHICAGOLAND which was brought about by prohibition??

Those of us who think in the real world will know the correct answer to that.

The current drug laws are causing and prolonging the very same things.

BTW-I was born in Chicago and lived there for the first 26 years of my life and went back to live there for several more later.

OK, who will be the first with the correct answer to what prohibition caused in Chicago?

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» BOOZE! Posted by: Grandma Crabby
» RE: BOOZE! Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN

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Some thoughts
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Posted by: willymack on Aug 28, 2009 9:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's funny how having a few beers at a backyard barbeque is considered "normal", while lighting up a joint at the same gathering would be considered degenerate by many of those there.
This is one facet of the mental and emotional conditioning we've been hammered with over the years.
Considering the fact that drinking a few beers produces much the same effect that smoking a joint does, it's easy to see that both are social lubricants and pretty harmless in and of themselves.
Just don't drive or operate heavy machinery after doing either.
I've never had any moral objections to getting high, either by rapidly spinning and falling to the ground, face up to see the stars spin, having a few beers, or using other psychoactive drugs.
It just so happens that putting a burning object in one's mouth, drawing the smoke through it, and inhaling the smoke, seems to me to be absurd. Taking hits of acid when I have such a vivid imagination seems equally silly.
But that's me. What do I know?
The point here is that I'm not about to judge someone else who prefers something else over beer, wine, or something more potent.
This brings us to the fact that everything, other thal alcohol that gets you high is ILLEGAL.
You gotta wonder WHY this is.
In the good ol' U S of A, almost everything has a profit motive behind it. The phony "war on drugs" is no exception.
Lesee, what could the profit motive possibly consist of here? Hmmmmmmm.

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» RE: Some thoughts Posted by: Benn_Miller
» Don't smoke it... Posted by: lesfrad

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for my Alternet Fellow Travellors!
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Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 28, 2009 9:24 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
look.....I'm not a bit stoned!

I have no cigs! Hardly any food! My rent is due in a few days! I am overdrawn at the bank! My car is broken down! I have a loan coming due! I've hardly eaten a thing in days and days and days and days.......

WHAT IS GOING ON???

If any of this is real....if I have helped anyone!

PLEASE!

I am hungry! I've been eating brussels sprouts for three frigging days! I need red meat!

I'm out of tea!

I do NOT want to sit here ALONE and watch Senator Teddy be buried!

I WON'T!

I am NOT putting on my tv again till someone comes to my door! Not even for Keith and Rachel!

A real flesh and blood person to tell me what is going on! what in heaven and on earth is going on?

This is my last post to Alternet till I hear from someone!

Otherwise this is all a long crazy wonderful somewhat twisted dream, or I've died.

In which case I need no food, rent, a car, cigs, a flesh and blood friend..........

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» Calm down and relax already. Posted by: Benn_Miller
» RE: for my Alternet Fellow Travellors! Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN
» Can I have your CD's, Posted by: slugsucker
» Roses are red, Violets are blue Posted by: Stoney 12+1

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podcast of Harvard scientist defending mj
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Posted by: aristopus on Aug 28, 2009 9:46 AM   
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Here's a podcast by Dr. Lester Grinspoon defending and corroborating the Fred Gardner article. It is available for other websites concerned about marijuana prohibition.

The website is rable.ca podcast 127.

Lester is the first world-class scientist to speak against marijuana prohibition. His website is marijuana-uses.com. Lester is former Dean of Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry.

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More to the point...
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Posted by: CaliJim on Aug 28, 2009 10:01 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
All this sturm and drang over whether smoking marijuana will or won't give you cancer...while completely ignoring the most pertinent point.

If we legalize Marijuana, legal producers can provide measured doses of THC in a capsule or liquid form that would no longer require us to smoke it. Of course, those who prefer to smoke it would still be able to buy it that way, but it would give an option to avoid smoking it altogether...making the question of whether it causes or prevents cancer a moot point.

In addition, we can eliminate the profits of the gangs who grow and sell it, which (just like ending Prohibition) would reduce the violence associated with those gangs and profits...as well as no longer forcing pot smokers to associate with a criminal element to obtain their pot...and limiting their access to more seriously dangerous drugs like Cocaine, Heroin and Meth.

Throw in the savings to the country of not spending billions of dollars arresting and imprisoning otherwise law abiding and productive citizens - along with restoring the taxes we would collect on the incomes they would have made if their lives were not ruined by being put in prison - and the taxes we could collect on the sale of pot and it becomes obvious that keeping pot illegal is simply "Carrie Nation"-style insane zealotry that is costing us far, far too much!

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» RE: More to the point...part 1 Posted by: txpeloton
» RE: More to the point...part 2 Posted by: txpeloton
» RE: You sound like a lawyer Posted by: kettleblack
» RE: More to the point... Posted by: lesfrad

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legalize faster, please
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Posted by: alturn on Aug 28, 2009 10:30 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you had an idea who is making money off the pot trade down here at the border, you would either want to give up smoking pot or accelerate your efforts to get it legalized. The folks profiting from the status quo are from both the right, right wing of the democratic party and the cynical public rapist part of the republican party. These "pillars of society" screw the public at every turn yet consistently get rewarded with social and political position.

As a non-smoker and non-drinker, say we cannot go fast enough to lift the dark cloud of pot prohibition and drain the ponds of corruption that it feeds.

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It's only truth....
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Posted by: reignfire80 on Aug 28, 2009 11:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'd like to formally thank alternet for posting these new credible findings toward pot. People need to understand that they aren't trying to promote the use of pot, just educate what's been being held from us for so long. The healthier alternative than alcohol or tobacco.... i.e. non addictive, non cancer forming, the benifits of medicinal use...etc..etc..

It's not the big green monster that it's been made out to be, primarily by the government.

Sure there's street violence including the smuggling of marijuana to this country along with pounds among pounds being pushed by dealers reaching our schools.

Your reason. Not because it's the "devil".
It's because it's illegal.

We could handle this just like alcohol and regulated nearly exactly the same....

Sorry... but i just really want to say thanks for promoting the truth alternet.

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Same Old Story
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Posted by: scottportraits on Aug 28, 2009 12:21 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have been hearing this kind of thing for quite some time now. In the mid 70s a commission was appointed under then President Gerald Ford to prove marijuana caused (lung) cancer. When the commission started to show data suggesting just the opposite effect, that using cannabis might actually inhibit tumor growth, Ford fired the commission and banned the study.

If 1 of every 3 or 4 will get this disease in the USA, then why would we be suppressing all the evidence and refusing to study the matter out ??

Something is rotten in Washington, not Denmark, my dear Hamlet.

Corn and paper-mill giants are in back of all this; hateful that hemp may replace their products, and undermining their profits.

*** Wake up, America!! Make marijuana a campaign issue in 2010, and 2012.

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» RE: Same Old Story Posted by: lesfrad

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Smoking Marijuana May Not Cause Lung Cancer - But It Can Make You Very Silly and Laugh a Lot..
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 12:49 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And in my case - result in me giving all my money away in the hope that the money would be used in Africa to save the lives of hundreds of innocent people starving to death...

So of course - THEY want it banned.

People are not allowed to be nice to each other and be silly and laugh and joke...

We are just supposed to be rats in the machine - on the hamster wheel...

It never did me any harm

It just made me paranoid

Yes - it rally dies do that as well

So after, I had given all my money away and gone paranoid...I gave it up and went back to work..

And got married and had kids.

Our kids don't do it...

Well not so far as I can tell

You see - I know what cannabis does to you...

Sure its O.K. in moderation - but it sends you off to another place where you really can't be bothered to learn something new - unless it is artistic - to stimulate the creative side of your brain -

So it may be O.K. for creating good new ideas - just in a sort of idea kind of thing

But you simply have to give it up and be completely straight

To turn the idea into Reality

And it is Really Nice Experiencing Your Brain when it is completely clear of all drugs except caffeine and nicotine

And do some really hard energitic physical exercise - and get really high

I used to work with an Indian Guy who used to go back home into the middle of India for 6 weeks every two years

He never took any drugs except - to be sociable maybe half a pint of Guiness at Christmas time - though of course he was not a Christian

I used to tell him what it was like being really stoned...

And he used to tell me how to do it properly via meditation amongt people who have absolutely nothing

And when it rains for the first time in 2 years - it is complete Jubilation...

Because the plants will grow and we will be able to eat

Tony

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titusoye, may i suggest you contact LEAP [Law Enforcement Against Prohobition] links provided
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Posted by: Bearzerker on Aug 28, 2009 1:49 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Law Enforcement Against Prohobition -Mission Statement-"
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP): Feedback Form"

...Posted by: titusoye on Aug 28
By how many ways or for how much supposedly "gains" (is there really anything to gain?) must we continue to endanger the lives of the gullible teenager? When did pot become the water of life?
Why is AlterNet devoting so much space to the subject?...

Prohibition fuels organized criminal activity
just like it did to Al Capone and his Murder Inc. criminal empire...
just look at the similaries and compare the realities of then and now...

It is this reason imho why Alterent needs to champion the ending to Prohibition...
If you take away Organized Crimes number one cash cow,
YOU WILL NOTICE a reduction of the criminality that you are [and rightly so] so concerned about!

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How The Fuck Can You Ban a Plant? Has Anyone Tried To Ban an Animal?
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 2:03 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Us Aliens who have infiltrated YOU from the planet Zog don't like Wolves and Lions and Tigers...

So we are Going To Ban Them and Kill All YOU Humans..

And then they move on to The Weeds

We Don't Like You and We Have Brought Monsanto In

To Kill You All and All The Food - That Is Not Under Our Direct Control Through Our TERMINATOR Seeds

And Us Normal People

Say - You Are Not Nice Aliens

And We Are Going To Collect all you horrible Aliens up - and build a rocket - which will have a spaceship attached...

We will not kill you...

We are just going to send you to another planet where you can extract the resources that you need to build your metallic robots...

Because You are Not Wanted Here on Our Planet Earth...

So

FUCK OFF

Tony

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» For God's Sake! Posted by: Stoney 12+1

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Wow man, like, this is so totally cool, like freaking far out man...
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Posted by: slugsucker on Aug 28, 2009 3:24 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
like, I can really dig it man, like, I'm totally with you, I can totally feel your vibe, like, right on, and power to the people, and like, hey man, you got any Haagen-Dazs or Oreos, or man like even some Twinkies or Ho-hos or something, like I'm really, really freaking hungry right now....

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And in case you are wondering we did go to Cuba about 8 or 9 years ago
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 3:45 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And they didn't have any toilet paper inside the toilets

And they did have girls sitting outside selling toilet paper by the sheet

And it made Me REALLY HATE AMERICANS

AND LOVE CUBANS

I didn;t go Communist Though

I thought Cuba was the most extreme Capitalist Country I had ever visited...

Well Not Really

They Just Screwed The Rich Captalist Tourists Rotten

If you couldn't say in Spanish

I just want to wipe my arse

Tony

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In India People Are Much Nicer - They Welcome You To Crap In Their Toilet
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 4:06 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Which is Just a Bucket

And They Leave You a Free Jug Of Water that they have collected from the Well an Hours Walk Way

And say ...


No Don't Worry about THAT

We Really Love Your Piss and Shit

We seperate The Piss From The Shit

And Absolutely

NOTHING

Is Wasted

And You Look at The Pigs Eating Your Shit

After Having The Best Steak In Your Life

Fuck Knows What They Feed The Bulls With

And The Cows

But The Steak In India - Done Really Rare...

My Wife Said - This Is The Best Steak I Have Ever Had in My Life

So Rare, Delicate, Tasteful and Juicy

It just melts in your mouth

No False Teeth Required

Tony

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Just Accept - You Are An American - And Haven't Travelled Anywhere
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 4:28 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have just read about it on the Internet - or seen it on TV or read about it in a book...

But most of you haven't even travelled outside your home State - let alone your home Country

And you think you are the Richest Nation in The World and Can Control The Rest Of The Planet With Your Bombs and Your Negative Money and Your Bullshit and Your Threats and Your Violence

And You Ain't Been Anywhere

You Haven't a Fucking Clue About Anything

You Do Not Know What It Is Like

To Live With People As They Are

On Our Planet

And You Feel So Threatened

And Most People On Our Planet Have Never Even Heard of You

Tony

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Most People in The World Know a Few Words of ENGLISH and If They Don't We Communicate By Gestures
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 4:46 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Everyone On The Planet Understand Gestures...

I immediately know when he gestures to me - I want to shag your wife - and I gesture to him - I want to shag yours...

But we can't otherwise we will be in deep trouble - so lets just be good friends instead...

And All Over The World

We are invited into peoples homes - and they invite us to eat with them...

Just sit down with us...

What is Your Name?

I am Tony

This is Julie

What is Your Name

I am ...

His wife interrupts...

And says...

I am...

In whatever language...

It doesn't matter

We are just so glad to meet each other from such totally different cultures...

And we Realise

We are Just The Same

Tony

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Marijuana Truth and the Results of Common Prejudice
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Posted by: hadashito on Aug 28, 2009 4:50 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It may be tolerated (or not) that the scientific community sometimes (often ? ask Darwin supporters) foul up in ignoring the results of valid scientific studies and accepting weak ones that are easily refuted. Scientists can be prejudiced just like anyone else, especially regarding a controversial subject. History has recorded a veritable encyclopedia of such instances going all the way back to Galileo.
But this instance is worse, since it reeks of the foul stench of our clueless and failing media.

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Marijuana Truth and the Results of Common Prejudice
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Posted by: hadashito on Aug 28, 2009 4:50 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It may be tolerated (or not) that the scientific community sometimes (often ? ask Darwin supporters) foul up in ignoring the results of valid scientific studies and accepting weak ones that are easily refuted. Scientists can be prejudiced just like anyone else, especially regarding a controversial subject. History has recorded a veritable encyclopedia of such instances going all the way back to Galileo.
But this instance is worse, since it reeks of the foul stench of our clueless and failing media.

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So After We Looked Into Each Others Eyes At Stonehenge Free Summer Solstice Festival in 1982...
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 5:33 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We went on a cheap package holiday to Agadir...

And thought what the fuck is this???

It looks like a Tourist Resort...

And the weather was crap...

We wanted to go to a hippy village about 30 miles up the coast

We couldn't possibly afford to hire a car...

So we thought what the hell...

And before we went - we had both been told the most horrendous second or third or fourth hand stories about travelling in Morocco

But thought we will find Morocco for ourselves...

So went hitch-hiking

My Wife is Slim and Blonde and Beautiful...

I Stuck My Thumb Up

Within 30 seconds a Car Stopped and Offerred Us a Lift..but they were only going local...

And a minute later it happenned again..they were only going local

Two minutes later....

We were on our way...

And when we arrived...

They all insisted we come to their tent

And these 3 Moroccan Guys cooked us a Beautiful Meal...

And we went swimming in the Sea together...

And then they drove us all the 30 miles back to our hotel in Agadir...

And the Hotel Security Tried To Gesture To Us - That They Couldn't Come In

I Made It Completely CLEAR - That These People With Me Might Be Moroccan - But They Are My Friends - And YOU Will Let Them In and Be Nice To Them...

And so our 3 Friends Gave us a Massive Tour of Morocco and Took Us To Places No Ordinary Tourist Would Ever See

And The English Tourists - Accused Us Of Doing a Drugs Deal - Whilst They were missing what was going on...

I said don't be so fucking stupid...

Do you really think we would do that??

We've seen Midnight Express

And my wife really wanted to go to Turkey...

But we didn't until nearly 20 years later

We went to Thailand instead

Tony

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I Have Never Sold Any Drugs In My Life And Haven't Bought Any Since 1985..
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 6:00 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But when we are in foreign lands and we are both asked to smoke the Peace Pipe - well it would be impolite not to inhale...

Or even closer to home for that matter

We had gone to see The Australian Pink Floyd...

and I just nicked out for a smoke at half time (Bensons & Hedges)

And this Aussie Girl said - do you want to have some of this? Well she may not have been Aussie - actually - I thought she was a bloke...

But such kindness - in the place where I least expected it...

And so Australian Pink Floyd did Comfortably Numb...

But I thought Meddle was Better

Tony

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I haven't sold any drugs in a long time ;.)
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Posted by: stellabloo on Aug 28, 2009 6:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I finally escaped from waitressing when I quit using alcohol and tobacco.

I sold pot to rich kids at the ski hill. It was a whole different life and quite lovely. For the first time in my life I had a clean and modern apartment and I was the first one at the ski lift every morning.

This went on for a couple of years then I felt like I needed a real job so I went tree-planting.

When I had a baby, I realized my treeplanting days were numbered so I went back to school.

That Christmas, my poor old Dodge Aspen died (on the way to the ski hill), and the college called me up to tell me I had been nominated for a $5000 scholarship.

I bought a new car and some climbing skins when I got the first cheque.

Cheers, tony - but always remember - it takes all kinds ;.)

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I have a hard time believing shooting up purified mold...
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Posted by: leighsure on Aug 28, 2009 7:02 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
could possibly good for anybody. Yet that is what penicillin is. I think the problem is that you have a hard time imagining anything outside your small world of understanding. You don't take the time to educate yourself beyond your prejudices.
Marijuana, in one form or another has been around for millenia, and it's not about to disappear despite corporate fearmongers' worst efforts. You don't have to smoke, ingest, or use it in suppository form. You are free to choose your own method of slow or quick death. Just allow others to have that same freedom.

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And Americans Think an Oasis Is a Place In The African Desert Where Camels Get Their Refill of Water
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Posted by: tony_opmoc on Aug 28, 2009 7:59 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Which is True...

And They Have No Idea About ELBOW - who are so much better - or Kasabien or for that matter

So I try and educate them - forget about all these English Bands and Go and See

Le Cor De La Plana

Tony

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Last Night
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Posted by: Stoney 12+1 on Aug 29, 2009 7:21 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn't there,

He wasn't there again today,

The acid made him go away!

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For what it's worth - "I and Love and You"
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Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 30, 2009 4:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"I and Love and You"


Load the car and write the note.
Grab your bag and grab your coat.
Tell the ones that need to know.
We are headed north.

One foot in and one foot back.
But it don’t pay to live like that.
So I cut the ties and I jumped the track.
For never to return.

Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

When at first I learned to speak.
I used all my words to fight.
With him and her and you and me.
Ahh, but it's just a waste of time.
Yeah it’s such a waste of time.

That woman she’s got eyes that shine.
Like a pair of stolen polished dimes.
She asked to dance I said it’s fine.
I’ll see you in the morning time.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Three words that became hard to say.
I and Love and You.
What you were than I am today.
Look at the things I do.

Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Dumbed down and numbed by time and age.
You’re dreams that catch the world the cage.
The highway sets the travelers stage.
All exits look the same.

Three words that became hard to say.
I and Love and You.
I and Love and You.
I and Love and You.


Three words that became hard to say...

I and Love and You.................

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Cannabis; a medicine for thousands of years
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Posted by: musclecarfreak on Aug 30, 2009 6:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There isn’t even a need for debate here! Cannabis has been used for medicine and recreation with no lasting adverse reaction for thousands of years. Do prohibitionists really think their misguided moralistic objections are going to change that? Come on! It’s time to let go of ideology for the sake of scientific progress thus stopping the slayings of thousands and decrease family separation which are promoted solely by prohibition policies.

Look, if an adult vaporizes or consumes cannabis in food there will be absolutely no lasting negative physiological occurrence. No killing of brain cells, no cancer, no psychosis, nothing. If any of these things were caused by cannabis consumption the people effected or the dead would be paraded in front of the world by prohibitionists. As it stands (for thousands of years) they don’t have one case of the above to show for their misinformation and half-truths.

Google search the key words below for a few studies on cannabis:

1) Memory loss can be beneficial for PTSD and Manic depressive disorder
2) Fox News Marijuana Does Not Raise Lung Cancer Risk
3) PubMed Effects of cannabis on lung function: a population-based cohort study.
4) Marijuana's Active Ingredient Targets Deadly Brain Cancer
5) ncbi A Population-Based Case-Control Study of Marijuana Use and Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
6) WebMD Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain
7) ScienceDirect Assessing the impact of cannabis use on trends in diagnosed schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005
8) Marijuana Research: Debunking the amotivational syndrome
9) Cannabidiol: from an inactive cannabinoid to a drug with wide spectrum of action
10) WebMD Chemicals in marijuana may fight MRSA
11) ncbi The endocannabinoid system and multiple sclerosis

Dangerous drug? Sience says no!

Watch the best marijuana documentary ever -> Google: The Union Google Video

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Marijuana linked to schizophrenia...and stupidity
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Posted by: Mr Nobody on Aug 30, 2009 7:43 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
For some reason, proponents of marijuana legalization leave out research from Great Britain that suggests that marijuana has a 1% chance of leading to schizophrenia in users who smoke it after the age of 15 and a 2% chance of inducing the mental illness in those who smoke it before the age of 15. Within the brain, the drug actually mimics the brain activation patterns of schizophrenia, which some researchers say explains its effects in impaired judgment.

Marijuana proponents also never deal with the real issue behind why we should not legalize the drug--it creates more stupid people. Granted, alcohol also creates stupid people and is legal but should not be. However, because one drug is legally increasing the number of idiots walking around does not justify advocating another drug that also encourages stupid behavior. The main effect of marijuana is that it impairs judgment. Do we really need more people with impaired judgment in the world?

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I Like Weed!!!
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Posted by: Rasplanet on Aug 30, 2009 8:23 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have smoked pot for nearly forty years. It has never made me sick. It has never interfered with my work.(as some say it will)Well! unless you count my going to jail for a roach and ended up being late for work. It will never be legal because it brings in too much revenue, especially for the local gubamint.
My sympathy to the families of those who are doing time in prison or jail for marijuana. It's wrong for the govt. to imprison someone for possession of a harmless herb. It's just plain mean and low down. All us pot smokers should go to washington and light up right there in front of the washington monument. Tell the govt. to go to hell. We like herbs.

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» RE: I Like Weed!!! Posted by: lesfrad

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TYPO RE: Apoptosis?
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Posted by: steveselverston on Aug 31, 2009 1:08 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Just to point out an error in the article, I believe it should have said that marijuana prevents apoptosis rather than promoting it. Apoptosis is the programmed cell division that happens as [cancer] cells reproduce and grow.

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Forget it
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Posted by: Juven on Sep 1, 2009 11:27 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
once the pharmie companies hear about this they will be donating even more money to anti-pot groups. They don't want an end to cancer--too much big money and don't forget "law enforcement"--what would they do without the drug war? They might have to worry about real crimes.

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clae shoes
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Posted by: fenqing on Sep 3, 2009 3:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]

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Tashkin’s data showing that marijuana
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Posted by: teon6 on Sep 19, 2009 2:40 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the components in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin et al. who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab’s finding that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin’s data showing melrose place subtitles melrose place subs rf remote control four channel rf remote control how i met your mother subtitles how i met your mother subs seropol5 that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze, and produce sputum.

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